Regrets
by Quince's Blue Moon-Chillflower
Summary: Desperation, love... The most bittersweet of mixtures. Bitter with complications, sweet with one, single moment between. In the ancient clans, there were many regrets, but none the larger than those of the first leaders themselves.
1. The Darkest Battle

The Darkest Battle

Snow danced down from the dark and dreary sky in a mystical ballet. Being carried along by the frigid, seemingly never-ending winds which billowed along the blank forest and clean moorland. The four forest clans stood in a deadly silence. Not a single creature dared to make the vicious first strike in fear of being the first to be driven off. It seemed as if no force or side would move a muscle and take the risk.

The silence continued. No sound was heard. Until one black pitch she-cat stepped forward. The she-cat's dark green eyes gleamed with unsatisfied ambition.

"Attack!" One mere single worded command had so much of a drastic effect. A barraging wave of uncountable cats charged out from the secure cover of the tall trees and across the once-silent clearing. A mashed mix of colors, brown, tan, white, black, orange, golden and even red of the cats' pelts seemed to swirl together. Another fighting force cannoned out from the opposite side of the once-silent clearing to meet their blood-thirsty enemies in mid-charge.

The two great forces clashed in the raging current of battle. Crimson blood splashed to the ground. Staining the brown-green grass of Leafbare to crimson red. Wind carrying snow roared around the fighting cats. Dancing around them in an almost mystical pattern. Cats soon became befuddled in the blizzard and lashed out; some hitting those of their own side.

In the center of the battle five cats fought. It seemed like they were dancing the swift tango of battle. Swiftly moving and edging around. Gracefully throwing out stinging blows to each other. Like the eye of a storm. A particularly large tom with a pelt the color of bright autumn leaves was most noticeable due to his stunningly vivid pelt.

He ceased fighting for a single moment and faced to confront a slender she-cat, who had a shimmering pelt as black as the darkest night. Her eyes matched her pelt, dark and shining. The dark blue color was deep; gleaming with coldness and a thirst for absolute power.

"Shadow!" He addressed the almost sinister she-cat. "Stop this! We can't destroy each other!"

Shadow curled her lip in a snarl of hate. Blood-stained teeth shown out in a menacing growl. "It's you who shall be destroyed tonight Thunder!"

Another cat stepped the large tom's side. Her sleek and thin build looked perfect for running at high speeds. Her pale green eyes held a debating mixture of agreement and hate. Her brown pelt was the color of tree trunks, but it looked torn and ragged in some spots.

"Thunder is right! We'll all die if we continue to fight!" Wind insisted, agreeing with the other leader's words.

The sounds of battle screamed from around them. An array of battle cries, wail, yowls growls of hate and fury, of shrieks of horrible pain all echoed around the clearing. The snowstorm blew through, carrying the noises with them.

A silver tom slinked in beside Shadow. His blue eyes were the color of a flowing river. His silver pelt was sleek, well equipped for slipping through raging waters. He glared and bristled at the two other cats.

"Don't let them fool you Shadow!" He growled angrily. Wind's heather-blue eyes widened as River accused them of foul-play and trickery. Thunder merely narrowed his green eyes at the two of them. "They'll ambush us and destroy us!"

A white tom with grey swirls in his pelt burst out of the snow and took a blocking position between the four quarreling leaders. His pelt was the color of the whitest snow with winds tossing it through the frosty air. The tom's wary eyes were sky blue. He had a sturdy build for leaping high into the air and into the highest of tree branches; his back legs thick with muscle.

"Stop this!" He bellowed. His strong and fierce voice making an echo around the blood splattered battle field. He seemed to be the one aware that many would die on this turf if the deadly encounter continued. "We shall get nowhere by fighting! Call the battle off!"

"Never Sky!" Shadow then leapt over Sky in a quick show of grace and skill. She landed on Thunde's muscular back and clawed through his fur with her thorn-sharp claws.

A few fox-lengths away other cats were fighting. One fell to the ground; completely motionless in the deep, cold snow.

"DIE!" A stone-colored tom yowled; wanting all to hear. He threw out a hefty paw and hit a black tom with a yellow tail in the face.

The black tom amazingly caught his footing and rammed into the assaulting cat. Nimbly tossing him to the already snow-covered ground. The gray tom leapt high and skillfully evaded another attempt at a hit to the head. The black tom hissed in cold frustration and ducked under a strike.

The black tom whipped out a paw and hit his enemy's throat. A gash was strung across the stone-colored tom's neck. The gray tom staggered as if he was blind and gasped like fish out of water. Horrible wheezing and coughing noises said that the tom was dying a slow painful death. The dying cat fell onto the snow in a bloody heap of gray fur. Gasping rapidly with his flank rising and falling quickly. Breaths growing fainter until he stopped moving and his eyes closed.

The black tom; Lightningtail, looked down at his mortal enemy who was lying at his paws. Lightningtail fought for breath; panting he could see his own breath in the chilly air. Blood seeped onto his black paws. The blood of his enemy's. The stench of the sticky liquid over-whelmed him and made him want to run from it.

Back over to the five fighting leaders Shadow had an iron grip on Thunder. Wind heaved herself at the Shadowclan leader and threw the black she-cat off of Thunder. Shadow scrambled up and fought for a grip on the deep snow. A harrowing screech caught her attention and she spotted Sky fighting River not far off.

The two leaders seemed to be evenly matched in speed, strength and cleverness. Shadowstar was caught unaware and was hurled to the ground once again by Wind. Shadow threw the smaller she-cat off and away from her. Shadow stood up and lunged at Thunder.

He hit her in the face and she evened it out by shredding his right ear. The two fought for a while. Shadowstar matched her cleverness with his strength and found out that they were evenly matched. An idea struck her boldly. She hit his muzzle with a stinging blow and proceeded to flee.

She weaved around fighting cats and out of the clearing altogether. She heard thumping paw steps behind her as the noises of the battle slowly faded away. The stinging of the wounds she had obtained faded away. The black narrow strip that she had been looking for came up quickly from the horizon. The thunderpath.

She turned around and looked over her shoulder only to spot Thunder not far behind her. His eyes burning with rage. She her another sound she hoped would coming. A monster was coming up. She could already see the flashing light and its colorful pelt coming up. She ran across the thunderpath. Not minding the foul smell. She whipped around to see Thunder wasn't following.

He looked at her with distaste, unaware of the approaching monster. "I never thought the brave and cunning Shadow would turn tail and run. I can help you Shadow. We can be allies and this won't ever have to happen again."

"No! You can't help me! No one can!"

Shadow raced at the Thunderclan leader, eyes ablaze. Then she froze in the middle of the thunderpath. There was flash of light and a sickening crunch noise. Shadow was thrown brutally onto a side of territory. She couldn't tell which one it was. Frozen cold pain erupted all over her body.

She tried to move; but the pain in tensed. The Shadowclan leader let out a shriek of absolute pain. She opened her eyes wide and looked up to see the cat she loathed, Thunderstar. His eyes were wide with shock. Shadow fought for her life; not to close her eyes and give in. It was all slipping away from her as fast as river water flowed.

She closed her eyes.

"_I can help you Shadow…."_

Shadow's eyes opened once more. She struggled to stare up at Thunder. She opened her mouth to speak. Then it all went black. As she swirled into the bleak darkness the words that she had wanted to say echoed over and over again.

"_Help me Thunder."_


	2. Cold Survival

Two moons had passed since the deadly war-like fight that had been dubbed as 'The Dark Battle'. The blood had slowly dyed the snow a dark crimson. As the survivors of the battle fled Thunder briefly recalled how the unmoving, furry forms of cats that were never to fight again gruesomely covered up a major parts of the battle field. The soft, cold snow had served as a last combating place and a deathbed for many warriors and apprentices alike. Two leaders had been taken down during the practical massacre. Shadow and Sky had been killed. Sky's death, unlike Shadow's, had not been a mere incident in the confusing storm of the battle. Sky had fallen at an unkown warrior's bloodthirsty claws.

But it turned out in the end that it did not matter much. Wind fell soon after the battle due to her wound, which were so wretched that even the fastest cat in the forest could cope and soon crumbled. Her death was affirmed during the last gathering. River was a much different story, at the last gathering he committed suicide at the last gathering by leaping off of the very top of the Great Rock. Even with River's self-inflicted death, Thunder had announced at that next gathering that every leader would add the suffix "star" to their name after they recived their nine lives. Surprisingly the other leaders immediately took action in his decree and changed their names, with the exception of himself, because he was so late into his leadership. He couldn't be sure why they complied so easily, but it was most likely out of respect that he was the last living first leader. The battle had a stupefy affect on the clans, the pure shock that there had been so many fatalities during the berserk battle caused waves of mournfullness to obscure the clan cats.

The clans had been absolutely devastated. More than half the warriors in all of the clans had died in that strident fight. Thunderclan now only had eight warriors and two apprentices left. The other ten had either died on the battlefield, or from their rending wounds. It was simply indisputable that all of the warriors had charged into the battle valiantly, with the intention to mangle all foes and deter them away. And Thunderclan still had two queens determined to not be daunted or detured by the recent events, one of the courages she-cat had actually fought in the gory battle. Windclan, however, got off much worse.

Windclan only had six warriors and two queens. There were currently no apprentices. Riverclan however, was excelling. Twelve warriors, five apprentices and three queens. Two elders still lived. Their newest leader, Icestar, was having a hard time in coping through recent hardships her clan went through. Whenever another warriors crumbled and fell at her paws in a limp heap she'd look the other way, she still adhered on Riverstar even though she had already had claimed her leader name and nine lives. Icestar was basically lost. Thunder pondered whether Riverstar's death had mentally cracked her.

Shadowclan was being unusually quiet. They were now keeping to themselves that a border patrol could rarely be seen prowling in the forest. Had the shady clan really been that shaken by their leader's death. Thunder didn't even know how many of them were left. Then another possibilty came to him. What if they had died out already? At the last gathering they had seemed just fine, but they were abnormally quiet and didn't object to anything any other cat said. Thunder pushed the matter aside, he'd find out later.

Skyclan was okay for the most part, since they didn't really even take part in The Dark Battle, they had the regular amount of twenty-something warrior and a healthy amount of cats. So far, as Thunder could tell the only loss they had suffered was Sky. Thunder rolled over in his soft nest, he preferred to stay in his den lately and shield himself from the world outside. He knew his cat's either thought he was ill, of he was a coward. Thunder sighed, there was nothing he could do now, so he might as well let them think he was sick as he lay in his warm, shielding den.

Soon enough, the light thrumming of paw steps entering his huge den could be detected by his keen ears. He shifted slightly, craning his head over his shoulder to spot who had come to see him. It turned out to be his deputy, Lightningtail. Lightningtail was one of the few who had survived and was as well as ever. He nearly storted at the irony, he was "Thunder" and his deputy was "Lightning". Soon enough he spotted his black-furred deputy stalking nimly into the den.

"Thunder? The clan wonders if you're okay." Lightningtail murmured to him quietly, his deputy did not want to disturb him from his nap too much. Thunder stare let his gaze remain on Lightningtail a bit more. Lightningtail averted his eyes steadily from the stone floor of the den to peer at his leader. "Thunder?" Thunder suddenly blinked and looked at him with alert eyes.

"I'm just tired Lightningtail. Just tired... I'll be fine soon." Without another word, Thunder flopped back onto his comfy nest, unable to keep his head up any longer. He heard Lightningtail take another pace forward. There was a thick silence between the two before it was broken by his pessimistic deputy.

"You've been tired for the last two moons Thunder." Thunder was surprised to hear the empowered, athorative tone his deputy now held towards him. "Ever since the battle you barely get up, are you sick? Or are you just being cowardly?" Lightningtail's stern questions ended in a bark. Thunder let out an uneven sigh and heaved himself up in a raggedy sitting position. His legs quavered with effort. Thunder knew that he was weakening.

"I'm tired Lightningtail!" He snapped bitterly. "I'm not as young as I used to be! Do you not get the concept of growing older? Of needing more and more rest? My muscles grow sore and my bones weak!" Thunder collapsed into his nest with exhaustion. Lightningtail's eyes flared as did the expression on his face. Clearly the black-furred tom was not ready to give up yet.

"But you're not that old! This is unnatural!" Thunder cast him a downcast look. For once the strong leader looked...weakened. Grief stormed onto the Thunderclan founder's expression. Lightningtail was genuinly taken by surprise.

"Leave Lightningtail. Just...leave." Lightningtail, for once, complied with his leader's order and exited the den. Casting one, bewildered look over his shoulder, Lightningtail left the den.

Thunder curled up into a tight ball. Looking vunerable for just once in his life, his eyes shut tightly as if in pain. Shadowstar's death was his fault, and he couldn't escape it...


	3. Bitter Resolve of Death

_Thunder stood over the motionless form of Shadow. A part of him had just died. The air was silent, with the exception of the faint noises of battle in the hollow far away. Then his legs weakened and buckled beneath him. He nuzzled into the motionless she-cats flank. Their relationship was so complicated, why couldn't it have ended happier? Why did everything in the clans have to end in tragety and violence? Was it right to create the clans in the first place if almost every cat would die in battle and conspiracy? _

_Shadow's pure black fur was almost covered in sparkling, white snow, some of which had been dyed crimson by the wounds she had just died from. She was so beautiful even in her fallen state and her cooling body. They were never in love, but at the same time they were... There was no way to explain Thunder's crimson-stained relationship with Shadow. They had been lovers, but yet haters... Thunder removed his muzzle from her snow-specked fur and raised his broad head to let out a mangled yowl of grief._

_In the snowy turf, he curled up in a tightly muscled ball next to Shadow's mangled and wrecked form so that their torn fur was touching. Thunder lay there, in the frigid blizzard, he didn't know how long he was there, but at this time it didn't matter, he was so tired. He was blasted with hard snowflakes and small, frozen chips of ice. The only thing in his surroundings that he noticed was the monsters that drove by on the thunderpath and when the bitter weather died down. The noises of battle had stopped, and it was like the entire forest was completely frozen. He hadn't the slightest clue of how long he was there, it could've been a matter of minutes, or even a day before the sound of snow being crunched beneath multiple paws was heard. _

_"Thunder?" His deputy's voice reached out to him. Thunder slowly opened his tightly sealed eyes. He raised his head to stare at the dumbfounded Thunderclan patrol before him. It was cloudy and dark out, probably another blizzard was ready to strike the forest. Lightningtail, Blizzardclaw, Snowstripe and Hawkwing, Lightningtail had brought the longest furred and bulkiest warriors._

_"Lightningtail," Thunder's voice was raspy. "how did that battle go?" The warriors cast doubtful glances at each other. Lightningtail coughed hoarsly to retrieve attention and loudly spoke up._

_"Twelve cats died, ten warriors and two apprentices, and overnight our elders died. Our queens are perfectly fine, two of our remaining warriors are sick." Thunder closed his eyes, so many of his beloved cats, gone in one battle. "Skyflight, Lizardclaw, Browneyes, Floodwater, Driftwood, Acorntail, Eaglepelt, Tigerblow, Moonshine, and Willowheart have fallen. Bluepw and Goldenpaw are...gone too." Thunder stayed in a paused silence for a lengthy expanse of time, no cat dared to break the period of quietness. Until Blizzardheart's rough voice broke into their suspencful silence._

_"Thunder... why were you lying in the middle of a blizzard while our clan was fighting? And is that...Shadow?" Thunder craned his neck and spotted the snow-covered form of Shadow. Thunder sighed emptily and curled up once more, he heard one of them take a small pace forward._

_"Take Shadow's body to Shadowclan, and leave me here, I'll be fine." Thunder rasped. His voice was broken with swirled emotions. So many gone... Why was this happening to them?_


	4. Nothing Left

a/n:

Some of you may be confused as to what this story is and why do I write it. This story is a collection of one-shots and maybe some tow-shots centering on the ancient clan cats, but mostly the leaders. I always found the ancient clans very interesting, and that the Erins don't cover them enough. In _Secrets of The Clans_ it says that Shadowstar died in a battle with all clans that she started, so this is how I pictured the battle will happen and the aftermath of it. Thunder, Wind, Shadow, River and Sky are the first clan leaders, they didn't have the name suffix -star added to their leaders name because the tradition of it had not been established yet when they first became leaders and received their nine lives. Sky is never mentioned in the book because the Skyclan super edition had not been written yet.

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River felt himself tremble, Shadow was dead. The cat who all thought was indestructibe had fallen. River staggered clumsily and realized with a dark pang, now he had no other purpose in life. It was over. All of their plans...For nothing. Absolutely nothing. River suddenly felt the emotion drain completely from his slowing subconsciousness. Shadow... The only one who truly knew him and what his pure purpose in his entangled life was. And the worst part of it, he had not the slightest clue of how his greatest ally and possible only real friend in his life had perished so suddenly.

"River, are you ready to leave now? If you really want to be first to arrive then now is the time to head out." River was snapped out of his dark dream by his deputies, brisk, controlling voice. Iceclaw had lost many, if not all cats that had been dear to her. River had noticed her behavior had become a bit strange, as time went on, their warriors died from severe wounds engraved in their blood-stained fur. Iceclaw, who always used to see dying warriors off to Starclan had begun to merely shun the warriors, looking the other way as they fell to the blankness of death. Even when the Riverclan warriors pleaded for her to come to them she curtly refused and didn't utter another word. The white she-cat had also started a more possessive, obsessive behavior. Obsessed with the Warrior Code, often she would lurk around the borders alone all night, snapping fiercely at any cat who came within five tail-lengths of either side of the border and glaring at their every movement with hawk's eyes.

River knew that she was nearing complete insanity, her once sober attitude dissolving into nothingness. But it meant nothing to him, as he roughly shoved himself out of his comfortable nest. Iceclaw tossed him a desperate look as he passed her out of the den's wide entrance. It was a pitiful plea, a plea for attention, the pure attention he could only ever give to Shadow. River's long, gray, raggedy pelt brush briefly against the damp stone walls of the opening that served as the entrance and exit of his den.

It didn't matter anymore. His dreams were crushed.

He was a shell of his former self now. There was nothing for him in his view anymore. One, soulless call for his broken clan to assemble underneath his lead. How long did they think they could survive? River shook of the cold urge to give out a sarcastic laugh, did they really think they could pull through? It was the coldest time in Leafbare, with so little cats left from the battle and illness creeping in like a fast lion creeping in on a scrawny mouse there chances were _so slim_. River had given up hope completely on survival, it was all futile without Shadow there to lend a helping paw.

"We're here." Iceclaw's call sounded to him, indeed, they were the very first to arrive at Fourtrees. River nodded wordlessly and sprung raggedly to the Great Rock. Snow crunched under his ungraceful paw-falls. In one scraggly leap his two front legs grasped the cold, iced-over surface of the ancient stone. He hissed in slight panic and dug his claws into the clear-ice, chipping it a bit. His legs hung over the Great Rock, flailing as they attempted to find a decent paw-hold in the basically smooth. With one, final heave he managed to get upon the ledge jutting out in the very middle of the rock. This was were the leaders normally stood during the Gatherings. River tossed a fierce gaze to the top of the Great Rock, a fall from the top would kill a cat.

He gathered himself, haunched squared in preparation to leap upwards to the next smaller ledge. He threw himself at the ledge boldly, paws hitting it's frigid surface with trained expertise. Another strong leap would bring him to the very top of the rock. River ignored Iceclaw's questioning yowls to him. River snapped upwards again, his two nimbly fore-paws finding a solid grip upon the tip of the rock. His muscular hind legs however, slipped up on the icy surface and were flung over the edge. River panicked, he didn't want it to end this way.

Adrenaline came through to him and gave him one moment of absolutely abnormal strength, giving him the drive to pull himself up in one, swift maneuver. He was now on the top. He turned around and looking down on his clan. He blinked in muffled shock, they were the size a mouses from the very top of the Great Rock. River bundled down, perched on the very tiny space he could lay tightly in. His long, bushy tail swept over his paws in order to conserve body warmth. It was much colder up here than it was closer to the ground. Wind roared in his ears, it was an unusually soothing sound to him, it almost completely drowned out the yowls and questions of his clan. He squinted downwards at a pure, white cat who's identity he made out to he Iceclaw. If he looked and concentrated hard enough he could see her facial expression. Iceclaw had a pretty face, even in near insanity.

The current expression she wore was of akin to the look she had given him before, one of pure desperation. River stared down at her, she was looking not quite at him, but at the stars of white-fire that stared upon them from the sky. Her pained expression was pointed keenly at Silverpelt, where Starclan dwell in the night sky.

Then it hit him.

The only light Iceclaw was able to look to to save her from going completely nuts was him. River had never realized it, he was so important to her, the only cat she held close to her in her life, he was the only one who kept her from toppling into the pit of insanity. If he died she would lose it. He was the only thing left for her now. River shook his head, he had nothing left to live for, it was unknown to him whether Iceclaw's affections were more than purely friendly. But as far as River could see, nothing was left for him now, or at least he thought. Was Iceclaw left for him, did he consider her a light in his life? He was soon snapped out of his thoughts as Skyclan, Windclan and Thunderclan swept into the clearing like a wave in a river. The three leaders bounded gracefully upon the Great Rock. Then stared around in brief confusion.

They wondered where he was. River stared down at Thunder's strong form, the Thunderclan leader looked as powerful as ever. And they were the only original leaders left standing. Wind had passed a moon ago, leaving only River and Thunder to keep the title of the first leaders of their clans. Thunder was the first of the three to look up. Shock was clear on his face, then realization as Shadowclan charged into the clearing.

"Even with the absence of River this gathering shall begin." Gorsestar yowled, his bold, but greatly tired voice ringing throughout the clearing. Thunder, out of the blue, jumped to his paws, surprising the other four leaders.

"River is up there." Thunder pointed upwards with his tail, the other leaders followed his golden gaze in questioning. The three look thoroughly confused at River. Thunder bunched his muscles tightly and sprung strongly up to a smaller ledge, the exact same one that River had used to achieve the goal of climbing to the top of the rock. The other three looked absolutely confounded at the two leader's actions, most likely wondering if the two original leader had finally gone nuts. Ignoring the dumbfounded stares, River cleared his through and began to speak in a raspy, unused voice.

"Cats of the clans," River began to speak, or yowl so that every single warrior could hear him clearly. "in the recent gruesome battle we have had, Shadow, the first leader of Shadowclan passed away, taking her plans with her. Many cats I held dear fell too, there is nothing left for me here in this world."

"No, River." Thunder chose to spring the next surprise by speaking in a calm voice. "Shadow's death didn't only affect you!" The serene tone dissolved from Thunder's voice. The large tom seemed to forget about every other bewildered cat in the huge, wide-open clearing gaping below them. "You're devastated, I know. I am too." Thunder's voice came out in a timid, meek whisper that was nearly washed away by the wind. River held back a stunned gasp. Thunder's voice had come out in those of a sad kit. Thunder was actually allowing River to see through the walls of recovery he had put up to trick the clans.

"River, _please_ don't jump. We're the only two original leaders left. Wind and Sky wouldn't of wanted one of the original courageous leaders to die like this! And Shadow would want you to jump either." River was in complete shock, Thunder was practically _begging _him not to jump. Thunder, the strong, amazing warrior was beoming an old cat who wanted someone to be old with. And maybe Thunder actually cared for him to. River knew he would be loosing his young age eventually.

The first five leaders shared a bond. A bond that no other leaders would ever would ever even begin to know, much less share. The five of them cared for each other in the oddest of ways, it was not love or friendship, but it was never hate or apathy. The five had always been connected to one another in some way, always tightly bonded. River and Thunder were the only two cats who would ever share that strange bond. It was odd, yes, so odd that it was absolutely unbeliveable. But it was there, it was always there in some way or form.

For one, unbroken moment River made eye contact with Thunder. The two switched views for one, solid second. River felt what Thunder felt and vice-versa. Desperation, grief, remembrance, caring... Then it was over. River snapped his head away and jumped without a thought. He couldn't trust Thunder, yet he could. In the moment of falling through the chilled air, he realized he was committing suicide because his life was so confusing. One riddle lead to another, he was never sure about who he could trust. That's why he jumped, he wanted it to be over. The wind roared, cats yowl in alarm, the hard ground, and darkness.

It was over.

Only one of the first leaders was left.


	5. Fading Out

Somebody please review!

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Wind's sight slowly became blurrier and blurrier. Shapes that were once clear became fuzzy and dim in the moonlight. Her wounds, gaping and long, were still oozing blood out onto her clumped, cobweb dressing. It was painful, they stung viciously and a cold pain was slowly seizing her in it's icy grasp. The deep wounds from that terrible battle were killing her in a sluggish manner. So many of her valiant warriors had eliminated. Out of all the five clans, hers was in the worst shape, soon, if no one offered a helping paw, Windclan would soon become... nonexistent.

"Wind... Can you hear me?" Her deputies hesitant words struck her like a heavy strike from Thunder's huge paw. It was Gorsefur... Her beloved mate and loyal deputy. Wind was growing more numb with every passing minute. With great difficulty, words managed to snake their way slowly from her mangled throat, whee a small, but very deep gash lay, it had not healed, but it had let her live for one single moon after the snowy battle.

"Gorsefur, get Skyclan's help. If we don't get help soon, the clan I've protected with all my strength for so long will perish and be forgotten." Wind let out a ragged cough, a dark shade of crimson leaking from her mouth. Wind listened for Gorsefur's reply, using all of her remaining strength to attempt to hear his words to her. Wind wanted to plea him, for she would not be his leader for very long anymore. But her voice was failing her, and her damaged throat yielded at her attempt to make out words.

"Wind..." Gorsefur murmured soberly. "Please don't go." Wind let out a hoarse gurgling noise as a response, the feeble noise probably shattered her mate's pure heart. Wind felt his muzzle dig into her dry, blood-caked fur. Chunks of her once shining pelt were missing, replaced by scourging wounds. Dried blood crusted stubbornly around the large openings. With her fading mind and darkening life, she could only bare to construct an image of his devastated facial expression. It was time for him to step up and finally become a leader of the clan he loyally served for so many moons, he had survived the times of horror and war.

He would be a brilliant leader. Solemn whispers sounded in her slim ears, single words could barely be made out from the quiet fray buzzing in her failing ears. Starclan was calling down to her. The icy pain and bloody stinging was at it's max. Agony did no longer flush through her, put it was stone still, every shallow breath numbed her frigid lungs. An very minuscule twitch of her tail signalled that she had not yet parted to meet her ancestors. Gorsefur withdrew from her. His warmth disappeared, leaving her suddenly lonely and cold. Gorsefur seemed to be stiffly choking and fumbling clumsily on words to say. Wind's small breaths were now steadily growing fainter. The ominous whispers of passed cats grew louder and clearer, she could no longer hear anything other than the mess of words swirling around her.

Thunder... The one leader who supported her against the fearsome forces of Shadow and River. She would no longer be able to speak with him again. The tight bond of the first leader's would fade with their various deaths. Did she love Thunder? Maybe so, even with her close mate, Gorsefur. Bitterness and remorse fought her every decision to interact with the large tom. River... They did share a different bond, like one of bickering siblings, even though they were absolute enemies in their last encounter, she would never forget the lazy, prickly tom. He had been greatly loyal to Shadow. The two leaders had maybe even become friends. Now that Shadow had died, River would most likely be completely lost. Shadow... They were the only two female leaders, a common fact that drew them to side with each other often, with the dark exception of the previous battle. Sky... Sky was always the neutral, rarely ever getting involved with battles and wars unless they directly involved his clan. Wind remembered seeing him last being impaled to death by the furious claws of an unknown warrior. He was the first original leader to fall, soon followed by Shadow.

Now only Thunder and River could truly ever hold the title of first leaders. A sudden shudder wracked her form, the pain slowly molded over her. Then it was all a hazy black.

Gorsefur watched as Wind's slender body gave one last shudder before lying perfectly still. The dark smell of death wafted hazily from her cooling form. No cat in the hollow den spoke for a solid minute. Until it was broken by the medicine cat who quietly said she would announce Wind's death to the anxiously waiting clan. His beloved mate and leader was gone. Grief wracked him, guilt came second. Guilt that he had not protected her more, that he had let her die. And now Wind was gone as her namesake. Wind flowed through the land, embracing those close to it, then it would leave, sweeping away to it's next unknown destination.


	6. Telling Off

**Okay, guys, I'm sick of working my ass off on all of these chapters for you to read and getting almost no feedback, the only review stating "This is kind of weird..." It's a fic about the first clan leaders ,dumbass, and that's not the way to review, if you don't have something worth saying, don't review. Simple as that. Some of you are young, like sixth or seventh grade, and that's cool. But PLEASE get into the habit of giving tasteful reviews (And I don't mean flames, yea, I'm talking about you HawkPen.) with details, what parts did you like, what could be improved, and so on. And I'm pretty sure everyone has flamed, and/or been flamed before. You want more chapters, then _review_.**

**And, please, don't send me angry PM's that I won't even respond to, because if you want a reaction, or to make me feel depressed, then go give your complaints to someone else. **

**Goodbye.**

**~Quince**


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